Watercolor.

One of my favorite units to teach is Watercolor Painting.

I am by no means an expert on the subject

but I do LOVE to paint.

I live for color.

Sure, charcoal drawings are nice

but nothing satisfies my soul like a bright, colorful painting.

Watercolor is tricky,

as the students can now tell you.

It is transparent, not opaque like acrylic or oil paint,

and therefore, shows every mistake.
Layering is key, therefore,

painting with watercolor has to be deliberate and intentional,

and even painstaking at times.

We start the unit with drawing basics.

They practice contour drawing and value drawing.

Both are important when painting with watercolor.

Painting essentially is drawing with color.

So, we spend many weeks observing from life

and practicing drawing before painting.

Then, we practice with just watercolors.

We experiment with the amount of water and pigment

we load onto the brush.

We create value charts and layering charts.

We practice, practice, practice.

Finally, we put it all together and create a watercolor still-life.

A lot of work goes into these,

and it brings my heart pure joy when they are finished,

especially when they turn out like these.

Student Still-life
(sorry for the glare -- I laminated it!)